Terms
Terminology HACs: Humana Approved Curses. After successfully lobbying that old-Earth swearing was too fixated on sexually aggressive imagery and bodily functions, the Humanakirk proposed establishing a council to release new Humanakirk approved swear words for the general public to use and enjoy without offending anyone. Every few years a carefully chosen new HAC is released into a waiting society, who, in raw defiance, will have come up with an obscene new meaning for it that is more foul, degrading, perverse, or horrifying than anything that has come before it. Examples: Hurk, Spreff, Chiff. Pirates, being traditionalists, refuse to adopt these new phrases, and enjoy the full spectrum of Earth's finest old obscenities. If they are close to "making their stake" they may start practicing using HACs for when they buy a new identity and re-enter society as wealthy business people with mysterious pasts. Hyper-optic: Travelling at significant multiples of light speed. Killstick: Self-guided, self-propelled missile system designed to penetrate the armour of pirate junks and PPB Navy vessels with ease. Double-8's : A high-percussion rail-gun that launches kinetic energy rounds at near-lightspeed, putatively at 0.88 of C Anti-light: A substance with bizarre properties which when exposed to photonic energy annihilates said energy with a force similar to an anti-matter explosion, but which is directly converted to angular momentum rather than destructive energy. This substance, exposed to different wavelengths of high-intensity photonics can produce both hyperoptic propulsion and when manipulated correctly, can be formed into an anti-photonic shell, cocooning a vessel within in a pocket universe, where said vessel will not accumulate mass, preventing time-dilation and relatavistic barriers to exceeding C. On-Stream : A world, station, or place which is adjacent to energy threads emanating from the galactic core which follow the curvature of the spiral arms of the galaxy. These "streams" allow hyperoptic craft to achieve significantly higher speeds than in "bare-space", making worlds that are on-stream much more accessible to interstellar travel and freight. Stream-Wraiths : A phenomenon where hyperoptic craft encounter electrical malfunctions and disturbing physical sensations during hyperoptic travel. Attributed by some to invisible and intangible creatures that travel along the galactic streams, others claim stream-wraiths are a ploy of galactic cruise liners to spice up boring journeys by turning the lights on, playing sub-sonic frequencies over the announcement system and of and fiddling with the climate controls. Travelers love to talk about having encountered a stream-wraith on a journey, adding to the suspicions of some that they are a marketing ploy. Shell-drop : Collapsing the anti-light shell in the final phase of trans-optic deceleration. Fence : A fixer for a pirate crew. The fences trade and barter on behalf of their captains, doing deals, arranging pick-ups, swapping gossip, and making the pirate world run more smoothly. Frats : The Frats are the colection of organised crime groups that operate and control Steimz, a world renowned for the best gambling, prostitution, chemical recreation and vice in te history of humanity, offering decadent pleasures that would make a citizen of ancient Rome blush.